Child restraint systems traditionally are an after market item and include a child's seat which may be temporarily installed in a vehicle. The prior art includes various types of child safety seats, including rear-facing infant seats which may or may not include a removable base, convertible seats which may be rear or forward-facing, forward-facing only seats, high-back booster seats with a five-point harness, and belt positioning booster seats, for example. The prior art seats typically include a belt arrangement for securing the seat to the vehicle. Initially, the various child restraint systems were designed to be used with the seatbelts of a vehicle, which seatbelts were originally developed for adult passengers. The prior art seatbelts include lap belts and three-point belts. With the many types of child restraint seats and the various manufacturers, one of the problems with installing child restraint seats properly has always been the incompatibility between the child restraint seat and the vehicle belt system.
More recently, a child restraint seat is secured to lower anchors of a vehicle with two clips or hooks. The hooks are coupled to the child restraint seat via webbing which either extends from each hook to a secured point on the child restraint seat, or via webbing which extends through the structure of the child restraint seat.
In addition, a harness system is required to secure the child in the seat. To accommodate children of different sizes and to make the process easier, the harness system includes a mechanism for coupling and uncoupling the harness as well as a mechanism for adjusting the length of the webbing of the harness. U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,186 discloses a low profile web adjuster. A low profile web adjuster for securing a web. A seat includes a harness, one end of which extends through a web adjuster mounted to the seat. A pivot cam on the adjuster is operable to lockingly engage one end of the harness. The cam is moved by pulling a control member having a pair of arms pivotally mounted to the cam member at a location to force the cam member apart from the web. Under normal loading, the cam member contacts and holds the web against the base wall of the adjuster and under high loading also holds the web against an upraised rib on the base wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,550 discloses a safety belt webbing adjuster. The adjuster includes a stationary spool and a wedge member, which is in spring biased contact with the stationary spool. The wedge member is operated by a release tab. The webbing material is in contact with a substantial portion of the surface of the spool and is fed between the spool and the wedge member, which locks the webbing material securely on the spool.
The prior art suffers several disadvantages. For example, it is difficult to remove and reinstall the webbing when cleaning or adjusting the product. The harness webbing can be easily disconnected from the adjuster webbing for cleaning. However, the adjuster cannot be disconnected from the central adjuster and therefore cannot be easily cleaned. In addition, an ancillary component is required commonly referred to as a web hanger which allows the harness webbings to be disconnected from the adjuster webbing. The web hanger adds cost and complexity to the system. The prior art adjusters have limitations in the belt gripping ability. The prior art adjusters and harness suffer from wear and tear and lack a degree of wear and tear. The prior art systems are difficult and costly to manufacture.